


skybound

by unhappyrefrain



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: (or touches of it at least), Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Alternate Universe - SBURB Fusion, Angst and Humor, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Ensemble Cast, F/F, Friendship, Gen, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Metafiction, Multi, Multiple Selves, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Pesterlog(s) (Homestuck), Timeline Shenanigans, Warnings May Change, in the year 2019 we unironically appreciate homestuck as a formative piece of media, its both in-universe and divergent, the existence of homestuck is a universal constant, this should be enjoyable even if you havent read hs, upcoming ensemble cast
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2019-10-01 00:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17234123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unhappyrefrain/pseuds/unhappyrefrain
Summary: Your name is ZOOEY, and you and three of your friends are about to play a GAME together. It is a GAME that may well have been played by the ASTRALS before you, and by playing it, you may change the fate of the entire WORLD.You are not afraid of this.(A completely unironic Granblue/Homestuck AU. Involves the collision of multiple canon-divergent and non-canon alternate universes, a proliferation of past and future Sandalphons, and the players' inevitable struggles, trials, and resulting growth.)





	1. Act 1 Act 1

**Author's Note:**

> so ive been working on this for quite a while but never got up the courage until now to publish it because who cares abt homestuck unironically these days right? well, me, for one,
> 
> this has a LOT more to it that i just have to keep filling out, and it should be readable and enjoyable for those who havent even read homestuck. also my aim with the pesterlogs was to give everyone a unique voice that may be different from their real-life speech, but is still in character and reflective of who they are. so even though technically their typing styles are "ooc" theyre really supposed to be still /theirs/ you know
> 
> i was considering doing this in twine for the interactive/clicking factor but i couldnt figure out how to do the css there so youll have to deal with this instead. thanks
> 
> ANYWAY SHIVA CAME HOME AND IM HAPPY

Your name is ZOOEY. You would like to say you are an ordinary girl, but you are a PRIMAL BEAST who was born from the wishes of all skydwellers, and your purpose is to keep PEACE AND STABILITY in the Sky Realm. Or, it was. You were once part of a larger, embodied concept called GRAND ORDER, but after descending to the Sky Realm and learning about SKYDWELLER CULTURE, you learned to become a PERSON, and have not been able to go back to being a CONCEPT. Thankfully, GRAND ORDER was kind enough to give you your own BODY and IDENTITY, and you have been living here ever since.

You have a variety of INTERESTS. You are in love with SKYDWELLER CULTURE, and are fascinated with all that they do and create. You especially love EATING FOOD, because you never actually need to eat, and the act itself is so enjoyable that you end up eating all the time. You care for a swarm of small DRAGONS, your two closest companions being DYRN and LYRN. You love SPACE and the COSMOS, as you were once, quite literally, the universe itself. You also enjoy the OCEANS in Auguste, and have a secret fixation on SENTAI SHOWS. (Nobody can know about that one, though.)

Your chumhandle is grandeStarseed and you tend to type in lowercase... speak softly and curiously... with very precise enunciation, and use many ellipses and gentle exclamation points!

What will you do?

 

> Zooey: Pet a dragon immediately.

 

You call one of your DRAGONS over. LYRN chirrups and flaps over to your side. You give it an affectionate headpat.

Aww, it’s so cute. It enjoys chin scritches and horn rubs! All your dragons do.

You can tell LYRN apart from the others because it has a red ribbon tied in a cute bow on its tail. GRAND ORDER did this a very long time ago, and you’re not sure what went through its— your?— head when you did.

LYRN makes a small noise and curls up in your lap.

Oh no. You’ve been trapped.

 

> Zooey: Pester your best friend.

 

You are about to pick up your PORTABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICE and pester your best friend when it lights up on its own. It seems he has had the same thought and has decided to pester you first!

You’ve always been strangely connected like that. Being a PRIMAL BEAST is strange.

 

> Zooey: Read message.

 

\-- icarusCradle [IC] began pestering grandeStarseed [GS] at 18:01 --

 

IC: hey. did you figure out the thing olivia showed you yet?  
IC: she said lucifer found it in some ruins. or rather, he found books with the code for it (?)  
IC: honestly, it looks like bad news, but im not going to say that to olivia  
GS: hello sanchan! c:  
GS: no, i have not figured it out... i haven’t heard back from olivia about it since she showed me last night.  
GS: you might want to ask her yourself? i think she trusts you enough.  
IC: are you kidding me she kind of hates me.  
IC: or at least i think she does, she acts like im always getting on her nerves  
GS: she’s like that with everyone. but i know you two are close!  
IC: zooey stop being so stupidly perceptive, i hate it  
IC: if we are close she doesnt act like it  
IC: i really am not in the mood to deal with her passive aggressive schtick right now.  
GS: hee hee. i understand.  
GS: she’s been especially grumpy lately what with azazel gone.  
GS: but i’m sure lucifer wouldn’t mind, he always loves talking to you...  
IC:  
GS: you know i’m right.  
IC: but theres just no way he would want to listen to me talk  
IC: he probably has something important to do  
IC: or more important than answering me  
GS: sanchan... he doesn’t have anything important to do anymore. he’s not the supreme primarch, you are! and you know he came back because you  
IC: DONT  
IC: say it  
IC: no matter how many times you tell me this i wont believe it. i know i never get it but thats because i have no sense of self esteem.  
GS: i wish i could make you see what i see in you... maybe you’ll understand someday if i say it enough times.  
GS: if you need me to, i can pester him for you.  
IC: that would be great, actually, why are you the best  
GS: i’m not /the/ best, i’m just best for you, i think…?  
IC: yeah  
IC: <>  
IC: if you could do that it would make everything a little easier i think  
GS: okay. but promise me something?  
IC: depends what it is.  
GS: if he comes to you directly  
GS: you have to talk to him.  
GS: is that fair?  
IC:  
IC: yeah i guess thats fair.  
IC: if i know he wants to be around me its a little bit easier.  
IC: i have to go olivia is pestering me and i have to log off immediately i cant deal w her biting sarcasm right now  
IC: talk to you soon  
IC: <>  
GS: hee, good luck.  
GS: <>

 

> Be the other guy.

 

You can’t be the other guy yet! You are too busy being Zooey and worrying about the well-being of the other guy and petting your DRAGON.

 

> Zooey: Who is this other guy?

 

That’s SANDALPHON, your MOIRAIL!

You would call him your BEST FRIEND, which he is, but your relationship with him is actually quite SPECIAL and UNUSUAL. You seem to be connected with him on an empathic wavelength. You keep him stable, and he keeps you stable. You’re not quite sure how you would live without him. He could be considered your NON-ROMANTIC SIGNIFICANT OTHER, but that is a mouthful. You call him your MOIRAIL, which is a term you picked up from a long and fascinating GRAPHIC NOVEL you read with him once. In short, it is a committed and usually exclusive platonic relationship— you are the KEEPERS OF EACH OTHERS’ HEARTS. This is also why you leave off with a DIAMOND SIGN whenever you say goodbye. But this is all embarrassing and you do not tell anyone else this because they will think you are a strange nerd.

As for who he actually is, he is another PRIMAL BEAST, a PRIMARCH in particular. He is quite emotionally unstable and has been through two thousand years of TRAUMA and MISFORTUNE. He pretends to be ANGRY and EDGY to protect himself. But he is kind, resilient, devoted and powerful, and you know without him saying that he always has the best interests of THE WORLD at heart.

And you are an ally of THE WORLD.

 

> Zooey: Consider your MOIRAIL’s safety.

 

Is he safe? Has he slept enough? How many cups of coffee has he had today? Did he leave his room? Is he alone and sulking right now?

You are always very worried for his well-being! He does not take good care of himself! Someone has to look after him, and you’re quite glad that it’s you.

 

> Zooey: Pester Lucifer.

 

\-- grandeStarseed [GS] began pestering  canaanIlluminated [CI] at 18:15 --

 

GS: lucifer? are you there?  
GS: i wanted to ask you about the tomes olivia showed us... the ones you found in the ruins?  
GS: have you figured out anything about them yet?  
CI: Ah. Zooey. It’s a pleasure to hear from you.  
CI: To answer your question: Yes, we have made some progress. I managed to transcribe the code into a language we can understand, and it seems to be compatible with Astral technology.  
CI: Possibly it interfaces with magic monoliths to create some sort of simulation.  
CI: I would call it a game.  
GS: so it /is/ a game… that’s interesting.  
GS: do you think it’s safe?  
CI: I am not sure.  
CI: If it really is Astral-created, it surely would not be safe. They would not have left it behind if it was free of traps and pitfalls. They were not that kind.  
CI: But we are primal beasts. If anything, it would be less dangerous for us than for skydwellers.  
GS: did you manage to find any explanation on how to use it?  
GS: that may be too hopeful of me, but anything would help.  
CI: You are a very hopeful being.  
CI: Possibly the glyphs on the walls could be a piece of the puzzle.  
CI: This temple was in Canaan, hidden by multiple seals and layers of rock. It was a well-kept secret; almost like a time capsule. I was only able to access it because I was privy to all of Lucilius’ methods and technology, and I was the only one able to translate the glyphs.  
CI: It was almost as if they wanted to preserve this history in case one of them survived this long. Skydwellers, or even primal beasts, may not have been meant to access it.  
GS: it just makes me want to do it even more, when you put it that way.  
GS: are you planning on going through with this entirely?  
GS: if so, i’d like to join.  
CI: From what the murals depicted, I believe this game could possibly involve the creation of a new universe.  
CI: I would ask if you are prepared for that, but I know who and what you are.  
GS: i’m not opposed to that, but i know someone who would be even more enthusiastic about it than i am.  
CI: Sandalphon?  
GS: yes! he was actually the one who asked me to ask you about it.  
CI: That’s puzzling. Why didn’t he just come to me about it? I would have been happy to explain.  
GS: i told him that but he didn’t believe me…  
GS: you know how he is.  
GS: but i’m sure if you reach out to him first, he will feel less afraid.  
GS: validation from you makes him feel safe.  
CI: You seem to know him very well.  
CI: I would like to understand him as well as you do.  
GS: you still have two thousand years worth of issues to work out with him, you know. it is up to you to do that.  
CI: I will keep that in mind.  
CI: Should I reach out to him now?  
GS: wait, for now.  
GS: i think he’s being pestered already.  
GS: he said olivia was messaging him and that’s why he logged off.  
CI: I see.  
GS: be gentle. you know how much he needs you. 

\-- grandeStarseed [GS] ceased pestering  canaanIlluminated [CI] \--

 

> Be the other guy.

 

Okay, you can be the OTHER GUY now.

 

Your name is SANDALPHON. You are one of the first PRIMAL BEASTS made by the ASTRALS, called a PRIMARCH. You do not like being a PRIMARCH. It has caused you much GRIEF and TRAUMA. But you will not go into your TRAGIC BACKSTORY right now. You need to preserve the illusion of mystery and secrecy for the reader for just a little while longer.

You have a few INTERESTS. Not much catches your attention anymore, but your favorite thing is COFFEE. You love coffee so much. You often go to coffee plantations across the Sky Realm to find and sample different variants, and you especially like to roast and grind your own CUSTOM BLENDS. You make the best cup of coffee in the whole damn world, and you are proud of it. It’s one of the few things you can take pride in.

You also spend your time indulging in STORYTELLING and FICTION. There is not a lot to do when you’re not in battle, and being around people for too long tires you out, so you love to read in your spare time. You are particularly fixated on MYTHOLOGY, not just from the Sky Realm but kinds that have found their way, seemingly, across universes.

Your chumhandle is icarusCradle and you speak in lowercase quite bluntly and dont use apostrophes at all

What will you do?

 

> Sandalphon: Sigh pensively and look out your window.

 

You’ve had enough of the pensive sighing for today. You’re going to play a game, you think. And maybe it’ll be fun.

Maybe.

By all accounts so far this whole game thing seems to be much more dangerous than fun. But you’re all about putting yourself in dangerous situations.

 

> Sandalphon: Pester Lucifer.

 

No. Absolutely not. He hasn’t pestered you first or in any way insinuated that he wants to hear from you, so pestering him is completely out of the question.

Now that he’s back and not, you know, DEAD anymore, you feel like maybe you should be a little more open, a little less paranoid. But his resurrection has only served to make you even more terrified of messing things up with him. You thought you were moving on well enough— as much as someone in your position could move on, at least. You didn’t actually _expect_ him to come back for you.

Not even “for you.” Your MOIRAIL constantly tells you that yes, he was revived simply out of the power of the SUPREME PRIMARCH’s wishes, but you don’t believe her. There is a whole world outside of you that he adored. There’s just no way that you could be the only reason he’s back, or even the most important.

You know exactly what Zooey would say to this because you’ve had this conversation countless times before. She would say something to the effect of well, then why do you think you kept his wings and his role? if he really came back through his attachments to the world as supreme primarch, then you wouldn’t have those wings on your back. he’s handed the reins over to you and now all he wants is to live peacefully, and to have another chance with you. And you would inevitably fight her on it for five to ten useless minutes, during which she would remain _infuriatingly_ patient and let you run out of steam and arguments on your own. Why does she have to do that? Bluh bluh stupid supportive MOIRAIL bluh bluh.

You’re getting yourself in a DOWNWARD SPIRAL again.

 

> Sandalphon: Calm down.

 

The best way to CALM DOWN during one of these doozies is to go make yourself a nice cup of COFFEE. It’s always been your go-to COPING MECHANISM, apart from escapism into FICTION and making BAD LIFE DECISIONS. Which usually means you go to it _after_ you’ve exhausted the first two options. But no matter.

You’re about to go head down to the kitchen and get started on your CRAFT when your PORTABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICE lights up. Oh no.

This can’t be good.

 

> Sandalphon: Answer him.

 

\-- canaanIlluminated [CI] began pestering icarusCradle [IC]at 18:34 --

 

CI: Hello.  
CI: I’m not sure if you’re online or if you’re just invisible. But Zooey told me to speak to you.  
CI: Are you planning to join this game? Did she explain it well enough to you?  
IC: oh  
IC: damn it she wasnt supposed to tell you to talk to me  
IC: uh yes i am hopefully going to join  
CI: Did she inform you of the possible outcome? That is, what we may receive if we are successful?  
IC: uhhhh no.  
IC: i mean, if its a game, then isnt it just something you play for the sake of playing?  
IC: unless its a gambling type, in which case there would be stakes  
IC: are there?  
CI: I’m not sure about the stakes, per se.  
CI: But there is a possibility that, if we do well enough, we may be given the opportunity to…  
CI: How do I put this?  
CI: Create a new universe.  
IC:

 

==>

 

You have to stop and sit down for a moment.

You’re tempted to ask him if he’s making some sort of joke, or if he’s trying to test you for any remnants of your old god complex, or something like that. But he’s not a very good liar, and he’s not that crafty.

Creating a new universe?

You used to dream about that all the time. You used to look up through the sealed-off sky from your cell in Pandemonium and dream of making a better world, where the Astrals never existed and no one was ever tortured or experimented on or locked away, where you could be a person and not a weapon. But now you don’t really know what you’d do if you made a new world. What you’d look for, what you’d focus on.

You feel more nervous than excited. More expected than expectant.

 

> Sandalphon: Reply.

 

CI: Sandalphon?  
CI: Are you all right?  
IC: yeah  
IC: sorry, i just had to take a moment  
IC: youre telling the truth, right  
IC: itll really let us create a new universe  
CI: It is only a theory, but one that I gleaned from the murals on the walls inside the ruins. Those tell a story of some sort.  
CI: Building upwards, through new planets and into the sky, until they reached some sort of center, into which poured all sorts of materials, and what was born from it was… what looked like our realm.  
CI: I cannot confirm or deny it. But the evidence seems to point towards that as a reward.  
IC: well  
IC: that could mean pretty much anything  
IC: but you seem to know maybe too much about this kind of thing, so im inclined to believe you somewhat.  
IC: who else is playing? you, me, and zooey, is that it?  
CI: Usually, four players is recommended. Three players could possibly cause a serious imbalance.  
CI: The most obvious fourth player I assume would be Olivia.  
CI: I have no reason to believe she would be opposed to playing either.  
IC: ugh youre right she would love this kind of thing  
IC: its why she showed it to me in the first place  
IC: i didnt expect we would actually play it though…  
CI: Are you having doubts?  
IC: not particularly.  
IC: i just wonder if itll work out.  
IC: all of us are… complicated. and weve all had thousands of years of interpersonal issues between us to deal with.  
IC: if that affects the outcome of this game just because we cant get along or squabble like a bunch of school-aged skydwellers then i want no part of it  
CI: That is up to us, then, to prevent.  
CI: Or to use this experience to forge bonds stronger.  
CI: I believe we are capable of it.  
CI: You and Zooey get along perfectly, anyway, so there’s nothing to worry about.  
IC: im still pretty sure olivia hates me though  
IC: and  
IC: well never mind  
CI: What is it?  
IC: i said never mind okay  
IC:  
IC: ill think about it and get back to you  
IC: no promises  
CI: Ah. Take your time, then.  
CI: We will talk later.  
IC: yeah  
IC: ill let you know 

\-- icarusCradle [IC] ceased pestering  canaanIlluminated [CI] \--

 

==>

 

You really need to make your cup of coffee now.

 

> Sandalphon: Be Lucifer.

 

Okay, reader, that’s not cool. It’s not even funny, it’s just mean. Look, now he’s glaring at you. You know what you did. How dare you make that kind of joke when you know perfectly well what happened to him. How dare you.

 

> Okay, fine. Please switch to Lucifer.

 

Who is this elusive angel of a man anyway?

 

> Enter name.

 

Your name is LUCIFER.

You, like the other two we have been introduced to so far, are also what is called a PRIMAL BEAST. Specifically, you are a PRIMARCH, which is just a fancy way of saying you’re a beta version of other PRIMAL BEASTS, before they figured out they weren’t supposed to make them that strong. You were once the SUPREME PRIMARCH who oversaw the evolution of the Sky Realm, but a CERTAIN SERIES OF EVENTS took both that title and the WINGS that signified it from you. Or rather, you GAVE that title to SOMEONE VERY IMPORTANT, because you were going to die.

But you are no longer DEAD, and lacking the RESPONSIBILITIES of being the SUPREME PRIMARCH, you are allowed now a second chance. You were never able to tell this VERY IMPORTANT PERSON how much he truly meant to you, and you are thankful to be given this opportunity to do so.

If only he would let you.

You do not have many INTERESTS. You enjoy READING and STUDYING the SCIENCES OF THIS WORLD, watching the EVOLUTION AND INTERACTION OF SKYDWELLERS, and COFFEE. You are trying to learn to like OTHER THINGS, and find more INTERESTS of your own, since you never had the opportunities to do so before.

Your CHUMHANDLE is canaanIlluminated and you tend to type in a polite and somewhat emotionless manner, with standard capitalization and punctuation.

What will you do?

 

> Lucifer: Sit down and enjoy a relaxing cup of coffee.

 

You haven’t even put the coffee on yet! You can’t enjoy a cup when it hasn’t even been brewed.

Speaking of coffee, you really could use one of Sandalphon’s signature blends right now. It seems that in your absence, he’s gotten much better than you at experimenting and crafting a good cup of coffee.

He gave you a bag of the blend the other day, but you haven’t opened it yet. You think if Sandalphon knew this, he might be upset, but it’s really only because you wonder if you can make it the same way he does. You don’t want to waste his beans.

 

> Lucifer: Examine room.

 

This room is a temporary arrangement, as is everything. You are currently staying in CANAAN for a short while, though you don’t really know how long “a short while” actually means, mainly just to tie up some loose ends. LUCILIUS’ LEGACY has left quite a mess for you to clean up.

The room is a cluttered library, shelves stacked floor to ceiling with various BOOKS, TOMES and ENCYCLOPEDIAS. This is where Lucilius used to study, and you’ve been camping out in here for a while, clearing out his old research and destroying any implements that could be used to create anything else along the lines of AVATAR. You don’t really like it here— it has the atmosphere of something dying, and brings back too many memories, both bitter and sweet— but you’re not sure where else to go.

 

> Lucifer: Pore over a book or something.

 

You open one of the TOMES that has been sitting on the cluttered desk. It’s a book full of technological blueprints for the LABORATORY. Incubation tanks, magic obelisks, surgical machines— you shudder. You close the book.

 

> Lucifer: Get pestered.

 

Your PORTABLE COMMUNICATION DEVICE emits a small chime. You reach over the desk to examine it.

 

\-- dusklightExile [DE] began pestering canaanIlluminated [CI] at 18:42 --

 

DE: Lucifer?  
DE: Luciferrrr~?  
DE: Stop futzing around with your textbooks and come help me find Sandalphon.  
CI: Doing what with my textbooks?  
CI: Ah, well. I just spoke to him.  
DE: What?!  
DE: He’s been offline for a few hours, how were you  
DE: Oh, damn it. That sneak.  
CI: He isn’t in the mood to talk right now. I would quite like it if you kept his mental well-being in mind for a spell.  
DE: Is that passive aggression?  
DE: From the great former Supreme Primarch?  
CI: ...No?  
CI: At least, I do not think so?  
DE: It sure did sound like it~  
DE: Well, whatever. I suppose that means you’re getting used to the whole Being A Person thing.  
CI: Thank… you?  
DE: You’re welcome!  
DE: Anyway, I asked because he’s been avoiding me for the past 24 hours but also because we need to talk more about the game.  
DE: And by the game I mean The Game. The one you found in the ruins? Or its source code, I suppose.  
CI: I have already discussed the matter with both Sandalphon and Zooey.  
CI: You are participating, correct?  
DE: I would hope so!  
DE: I’d really like to, honestly. It sounds like fun~  
CI: I am unsure that I would use the word “fun” to describe such a game, but I digress…  
CI: Four players would be ideal.  
CI: Hm… Now that I think about it, everyone in this group seems quite disorganized. Did you not know of our conversations?  
DE: No! No one is telling me anything and it’s no fun.  
DE: Hm.  
DE: Hold on, I have an idea… Let me pester Zooey.

 

> Lucifer: Be the other girl.

 

Which other girl?

 

> The one we haven’t met yet.

 

Oh, this MYSTERIOUS BROAD, you mean. Well. I suppose we can introduce you, dear READER.

 

> Mysterious broad: Enter name.

 

Your name is OLIVIA.

You are an ARCHANGEL with power over DUSK and TWILIGHT. Well, you were, until you FELL. After spending a good few thousand years in HELL PRISON, you broke out and vowed to help your other fallen brethren escape, tracking the movements and actions of the SUPREME PRIMARCH. Until, of course, he died and passed on his powers to your friend from HELL PRISON, Sandalphon. And now that he’s back, sans power and authority, he’s turned out to be quite kind and neutral on the issue of other FALLEN ANGELS. So you don’t really have any qualms with the SUPREME PRIMARCH anymore.

You have a variety of INTERESTS. You are primarily concerned with REVOLUTION and the destruction of CAPITALISM and PRISONS and THE PATRIARCHY and other related woes. Of course, this doesn’t mean very much considering skydweller society has not yet reached the point of late-stage capitalist despair that the writer’s society has. But you just like REVOLTING against things. You are also interested in the ELDRITCH and ZOOLOGICALLY DUBIOUS, having been in close quarters with creatures from the OTHERWORLD for quite a while. Most of all, however, you love FASHION. Very much so. Originally you did not understand the skydweller compulsion to decorate the clothes they wear just because they like them, but after being around skydwellers for so long, you have come to love the concept. You think you’re getting good at putting together cute yet practical outfits. Gotta look both fashionable and badass when you’re smashing the system.

Your CHUMHANDLE is dusklightExile and you type in a playful manner, with standard capitalization and punctuation, and like to use tildes at the ends of your sentences~

What will you do?

 

> Olivia: Look through your WARDROBIFIER and pick a new outfit.

 

Great idea! You’re always up for a change of clothes. Even if you’ve only been wearing these for a few hours.

You swap out your dark purple MINISKIRT for a nice pair of navy high-rise SHORT SHORTS. Easier to move around in. Your long lacy BLOUSE makes it look a little like you’re wearing nothing underneath it, though, so you replace it with a ruched white TANK TOP with lots of little red RIBBONS. Perfect.

RIBBONS put you in a good mood. The reason for this is a SECRET, because it’s pretty GAY.

 

> Olivia: Pester your friend.

 

Which one? You have a lot of friends lately. Or rather, maybe three or four, which is still a lot in comparison.

You already talked to Lucifer today about that weird code he found, and immediately showed it to Sandalphon, who must have talked with Zooey about it, who talked to Lucifer, who talked to Sandalphon... You’ve always felt a little left out of their circle, in a way. Zooey and Sandalphon are so close you can barely catch them apart, and Lucifer and Sandalphon are obviously in love but won’t admit it, and Lucifer and Zooey apparently go back a ways. You end up feeling like an awkward interloper, most of the time. It’s also not helpful that you may have a bit of a crush on Zooey and by a bit you mean maybe a little more than just a bit, but nobody can know that, so thank god you didn’t say that out loud!

 

> Olivia: Pester Zooey?

 

Hmm... maybe. She’s so relatively stable and well-adjusted compared to those other two dorks. So chatting with her is always a safe bet, even if you get a little fluttery on the inside.

You still have to talk to her about that Idea you had earlier, anyway!

 

\-- dusklightExile [DE] began pestering  grandeStarseed [GS] at 18:45 --

 

DE: Hello~?  
DE: Zooey, are you around?  
GS: hello there olivia! c:  
GS: lucifer and i have been talking about the possibilities of the game he discovered, and i think right now he is talking to sanchan about it?  
DE: Oh, I was wondering when we were all going to get on the same page regarding that.  
DE: I pestered Lucifer to get Sandalphon to talk to me since he’s been ignoring me and now it’s all a mess.  
DE: You know what we should do?  
GS: what?  
DE: Make a memo. ;)  
GS: you mean like a group chat sort of memo?  
GS: olivia! that’s such a good idea, i can’t believe i didn’t think of that.  
GS: so much information is being passed around and i’m not sure who knows what... we need to keep track of all this somehow, and that’s a wonderful solution!  
GS: thank you!! ‘u’  
DE: That emote is so cute, have I ever told you that.  
DE: Anyway. Shall I make it or is this a job for our grand arbitrator? ;3  
GS: leave it to me!  
GS: i’ll make sure all of this is organized and ready to go in no time.  
DE: Wonderful.  
DE: But please beware. I’ve heard the memo system on Pesterchum can have some... chronology issues.  
DE: I have a feeling either you or Sandalphon will be able to handle it if those come up.  
GS: why sanchan? :o  
DE: Call it a hunch, I suppose?  
DE: It’s just a feeling I get from the two of you. Time and space, I suppose.  
GS: hmm...  
GS: i think i can see what you’re talking about!  
GS: i never considered sanchan a time person, but maybe he is... he’s had a lot of it.  
GS: anyway! i’ll set up the memo. i hope it’s not too confusing.  
DE: All right, good luck~  
DE: Talk to you there, then?  
GS: of course!

\-- grandeStarseed [GS] ceased pestering  dusklightExile [DE] \--

 

Aaaand… right on cue. There’s a notification.

 

> Olivia: Open memo.

 

CURRENT grandeStarseed [CGS] RIGHT NOW opened public transtimeline bulletin board Untitled

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

CGS RIGHT NOW opened new memo on board Untitled

 

CGS: “current” grandeStarseed?  
CGS: hmm... okay.  
CGS: any ideas on what to name this?  
CURRENT icarusCradle [CIC] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CIC: hey  
CIC: what is this?  
CGS: it’s a public bulletin board!  
CGS: olivia suggested we make one so everyone can keep track of where they are regarding their knowledge of the game we are putting together.  
CIC: damn olivia had a good idea for once i guess  
CURRENT dusklightExile [CDE] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CDE: Aw, Sanchan, that’s mean. I have good ideas all the time!  
CIC: dont call me that only zooey gets to call me that.  
CDE: Sandy~  
CIC: fuck you liv you know i hate being called that  
CIC: and you know exactly why  
CGS: olivia, cut it out. >:c  
CDE: All right, all right.  
CDE: I was only teasing, you know.  
CIC: still dont like it  
CGS: please do not argue on my memo!  
CGS: also we still need a title.  
FUTURE icarusCradle [FIC] 47 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FIC: team fuck the astrals  
FIC ceased responding to memo.  
CGS: ...???  
CGS: well, i suppose that’s the title then?  
CGS changed the bulletin board name to TEAM FUCK THE ASTRALS.  
CGS: thank you sanchan from... the future?  
CGS: ... he’s gone.  
CGS: olivia, is this what you meant when you said chronology issues?  
CDE: Yes, this is what I meant!  
CDE: Though I couldn’t have imagined it would come up so soon.  
FUTURE dusklightExile [FDE] 37 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FDE: Yes, actually, the chronology shenanigans only started to happen when we began playing the game.  
FDE: None of you can mess around with timelines yet, but when we all enter the Medium, which we will, the concept of time will hold much less meaning.  
FDE: Hello, past me.  
CDE: ... This is so strange.  
CDE: Anyway. Maybe future-me has a point. Let’s not attempt to play with time until we start the game.  
CURRENT canaanIlluminated [CCI] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCI: What exactly is going on here?  
CCI: Olivia, is this the idea you were talking about?  
CGS: lucifer! hello. i was wondering when you would come online.  
CGS: i made a bulletin board to help us all keep track of the information we’ve gathered about this game, just so there’s no misunderstandings or confusion.  
CGS: now that we are back on topic and everyone is here! let’s all lay out what we know.  
CGS: ... though maybe i should ban the future selves for now.  
CGS  banned FIC from responding to memo.  
CGS banned FDE from responding to memo.  
FGS banned herself from responding to memo.  
CGS: !!?  
CDE: Good to know future-Zooey is just as cooperative and considerate as current Zooey, at least.  
CGS: i didn’t even have to say anything and she just came on and banned herself.  
CIC: i have a really bad feeling about this  
CIC: by this i mean being on a board where i can freely yell at past or future versions of myself  
CIC: this is probably going to cause me great distress  
CGS: shoosh.  
CIC: no im serious  
CGS: then i’ll ban all the mean sanchans when it happens.  
CIC: what if all the mes are mean  
CGS: i’ll ban all of them until you calm down. shooooosh.  
CGS: anyway! what do we all know?  
CIC: so i talked to zooey first, asked about the code that olivia showed me, she said that lucifer got it from some astral ruins, and then olivia started trying to pester me and i logged off  
CIC: and then lucifer messaged me to tell me that its apparently a game and that it could possibly result in the creation of a new universe.  
CGS: oh, i messaged lucifer between our conversation and yours with him.  
CGS: and he told me the code was for a sort of simulation that could be compiled and interfaces with magic monoliths all over the sky realm.  
CCI: Yes. We know it is a simulation-type game, that it requires access to a monolith to activate, that it may reward us with the creation of a new universe, and that the four of us were going to play it together.  
CCI: The minimum amount of players required is two, but four is a very safe and stable number.  
CCI: So Sandalphon and I discussed that.  
CCI: I am also of the opinion that we should probably choose monoliths that are far away from each other.  
CCI: Why this is, I am not sure, but from what I can fathom about the game, it is played in real-time and real space.  
CGS: good summary so far.  
CGS: are you sure about playing so far apart, though?  
FGS unbanned herself from responding to memo.  
FGS: he is correct in that assumption. make sure to spread out across the sky realm to play.  
FGS: i will not elaborate on the details but everyone should make sure that their monolith is located as far away from the rest of the players’ monoliths as possible.  
FGS: there are ruins on every island, mostly.  
FGS unbanned FIC from responding to memo.  
FIC: yeah seriously just do what she says  
FIC: also we cant all go in at the same time  
FIC: we need to create a four-person chain  
FIC: the game runs on a server-client system, and for all of us to participate in the same session, we would have to… eugh. i dont feel like explaining this.  
FIC: be right back  
CCI: What?  
CCI: I... don’t understand. But all right?  
FUTURE icarusCradle [FIC2] 48 HOURS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FIC2: fuck it wont let me sendificate it  
FIC: oh wow you already messed it up  
FIC2: its not my fault. the other side is blocked.  
FIC2: ughhhhh i cant get in there either now that were in the medium  
FIC: @ lucifer go back to the astral ruins and wait at the shrine until further notice  
CGS: ugh, i knew things would get weird. future me why did you unban everyone!  
FGS: because if i did not then you all would be doomed.  
FGS ceased responding to memo.  
CGS: jeez.  
CGS: am i always this vague and ominous?  
FIC: yes  
FIC2: yes  
CGS banned FIC from responding to memo.  
CGS banned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
CGS: rude.  
CGS: anyway i suppose we should listen to our future selves. lucifer, can you make it back to the astral ruins?  
CCI: I can do that, yes.  
CGS: it sounded like future sanchan was waiting for you there.  
CCI: I’ll go now.  
CGS unbanned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
CGS unbanned FIC from responding to memo.  
CGS: future sanchan when do you expect him there?  
FIC2: is two hours enough time  
CCI: It should be.  
FIC: wow rushed much  
FIC2: shut up  
FIC: dont fuck it up  
FIC2: awfully bold of you to presume i could fuck it up when its already going to happen  
CGS: no arguing on my memo! >:o  
FIC: sorry  
FIC2: sorry  
CGS: you are forgiven.  
CGS: but i am still banning you both for now!  
CGS banned FIC from responding to memo.  
CGS banned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
CDE: Wow, not even the multiple future Sandalphons can keep themselves from arguing.  
CIC: see i told you this would happen  
CIC: i hate time  
?GS at ??:?? responded to memo.  
?GS: i’m so sorry in advance sanchan.  
?GS: but you are going to be having to deal with time  
?GS: for a very long time.  
?GS banned herself from responding to memo.  
CGS: i really am that vague and ominous!  
CGS: why am i always so vague and ominous?!  
CIC: heh. zooey thats cute.  
CGS: i am very tired of all iterations of myself being so ridiculously opaque and fatalistic.  
CGS: grand order was always like this and i hoped i had outgrown it, but apparently not!  
CIC: i dont know. i feel like theres a part of you that has always been inscrutable and menacing and its not often i get to see it.  
CCI: I agree with Sandalphon.  
CCI: Forgive me if this is disrespectful, but you are always so calm and gentle that it is easy to forget who and what you truly are, and the power you hold.  
CCI: It is almost… how to explain it?  
CIC: cool  
CIC: it makes her sound cool  
CCI: ...I suppose so.  
CGS: aww, don’t fluster me like this!  
CDE: And there’s our adorable Zooey back again.  
CGS: olivia! ///  
CIC: jeez is today like “everyone hit on zooey” day or something  
CIC: everyone make incredibly obvious passes at zooey, go ahead, just fucking do it shes right there  
CGS: sanchan i don’t think your sarcasm is coming through over text.  
CGS: please don’t hit on me, actually.  
CDE: I wasn’t hitting on you! And neither was Lucifer.  
CDE: Lucifer isn’t even interested in you like that.  
CIC: oh and you are?  
CDE: No!  
CDE: I was just talking about in terms of orientation!  
CDE: Lucifer is GAY!  
CCI: Everyone… please…  
CCI: It is true that I am not attracted to women, and all of you know that. I hardly believe that it is an immediate signal of romantic interest to simply compliment a friend?  
CCI: Unless I have it all wrong.  
CIC: no you have it right youre fine  
CIC: everyone stop flirting with zooey  
CIC: “everyone” being liv actually  
CIC: lucifer where are you rn?  
CCI: On my way to the Astral ruins.  
CCI: As you may know, I’ve been staying in Canaan recently to tie up loose ends. But the path to the ruins is quite precarious, and requires constant authentication.  
CIC: two hours still enough?  
CCI: It should be, yes.  
CIC: ok i hope my future self knows what hes doing  
CGS: i’m sure he does!  
CGS: you should have more confidence in yourself.  
CIC: im pretty sure its an ingrained instinct for me to be mean to all versions of myself  
CIC: zooey how do you even do it  
CIC: be nice to your different selves, i mean  
CGS: well most of them don’t really look like me.  
CGS: and they all talk differently as well.  
CGS: maybe if your other selves weren’t complete reflections of you it would be easier?  
CIC: maybe  
CIC: but then again youre just kind to yourself unlike me  
CGS: well… yes.  
CGS: but someday i will convince you that you deserve to be kind to yourself too. <>  
CIC: hey no diamonds in public  
CGS: hee hee! okay.  
CDE: Uuuuugh. You guys are so supportive of each other it’s almost gross.  
CDE: But not quite.  
CGS: i don’t know what’s gross about that.  
CGS: it’s nice to support others that you care about.  
CGS: you’re just jaded, olivia!  
CDE: Maaaybe.  
CDE: What does diamonds even mean?  
CIC: its kind of an inside joke  
CIC: or not really a joke but  
CIC: an inside… thing.  
CDE: Sounds silly.  
CGS: maybe a little. but it's important to us!  
CGS: where’s lucifer?  
CCI: On my way.  
CCI: Zooey, will you kindly unban future Sandalphon so I can know when he’s ready?  
CGS: sure thing.  
CGS: wait… which one?  
CIC: probably the second one  
CGS unbanned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
FIC2: im waiting there whenever youre ready  
FIC2: so if you get there before two hours pass then thats fine too  
CIC: hey future self just a question  
CIC: the hell did you come from  
CIC: like i dont remember leaving in two hours to go meet lucifer or even thinking of doing so because youre the one doing it  
FIC2: hah. okay. well just so you know  
FIC2: youre going to be dealing with a lot of duplicates of yourself over the course of this game  
FIC2: YOURE not going anywhere in two hours  
FIC2: im an entirely separate self. different body different memories different everything  
FIC2: its because youre a time player  
FIC2: youll constantly be going forward and meeting future selves and then when youre there youll be going back and encountering past versions of yourself and doing shit to guide those selves but youre always going to be hostile to them by default  
FIC2: its a horrible cycle of bullshit and youre going to be so tired of it but sbound gives you these roles to challenge you and not necessarily to suit your strengths  
FIC2: (altho zooey and lucifer and sort of olivia got good aspects that theyre good at and idk why we got the short end of the straw)  
CIC: maybe that means we eventually get good at it  
CIC: but youre not far enough in the future yet so youre still kind of shit at it  
FIC2: youre one to talk  
CGS: oh my god you both are so insufferable.  
CGS: here. i’m making a separate memo for you and all your ridiculous future selves to duke it out through text.

CGS RIGHT NOW opened new memo on board TEAM FUCK THE ASTRALS.  
CGS renamed memo sanchan versus sanchan fight scene montage.

 

CIC: zooey this is so embarrassing  
FIC2: i saw this coming  
CGS: go. there. NOW.  
CIC: sorry  
FIC2: sorry  
CGS banned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
CGS: siiiiigh.  
CGS: being an arbitrator is hard.  
CGS: it’s hard and no one understands.

 

> Be Lucifer.

 

You are now Lucifer.

You are currently journeying through the catacombs of the ASTRAL ruins in CANAAN, as you were told to do by a mysterious future version of Sandalphon. The road is treacherous, and full of traps and rubble and authentication systems. You can handle it, though.

Future-Sandalphon told you to be there in under two hours. Before him and his current-self started arguing, you were informed that he was about to send the thing. You’re not sure if this means he will be waiting at the deepest part of those ruins, or if there is something else helpful waiting in his place. You sort of hope he will be there in person. It is always nice to see him.

 

==>

 

You come across yet another FINGERPRINT SCANNER. Though ASTRAL ruins have always looked ancient, their technology was much more advanced than that of skydwellers. It is a strange sort of anachronism. In fact, the only reason you and your friends have those SMALL COMMUNICATION TABLETS is because you stole that technology from this same lab and managed to recreate more of them. Having the same mental capacity of your creator, the ASTRAL LUCILIUS, comes in handy sometimes, and by sometimes you mean all the time.

What also comes in handy is having the same fingerprints as him. You were made in his exact image, after all, a fact that you both dread and appreciate.

You would like to think you are a kinder person than he was.

 

> Lucifer: Authenticate.

 

A rusted door slides open. Under all the age and detritus, the metal is cold and sleek and clean. It gives you chills. The ASTRALS may be gone now, but there is so much left. All of it is hard and surgical and precise, when you clear away the rubble of years.

This GAME you are about to play is no exception. You have a feeling it’s going to be very dangerous. But if anyone can handle it, it’s you, and the other PRIMALS you are about to play it with.

 

> Lucifer: Check memo.

 

You check on the memo Zooey had recently opened, to see if future-Sandalphon has anything else to say to you. Instead, you find two Sandalphons arguing with each other, and a frantic Zooey attempting to mediate before finally banishing them off to their own board.

You sigh.

 

> Lucifer: Update memo on your progress.

 

CCI: I think I may be ten minutes or so away from the shrine.  
CCI: I’m not sure if future-Sandalphon can respond but I am just making sure that he is aware.  
CGS: hello c:  
CGS: i sent them off to go have their little spat somewhere else, so future-sanchan is banned for now and current-sanchan is probably occupied.  
CGS: future-sanchan is almost definitely aware. he did say he was waiting.  
CCI: That’s good to hear, at least.  
CCI: These tunnels are awful. I am enjoying this trip as much as I enjoyed the last one.  
CCI: Which is to say, I am not.  
CGS: lucifer! you did a joke!  
CCI: Did I?  
CCI: Oh, I suppose I did.  
CCI: I think I am making progress. Don’t you think so, Zooey?  
CGS: yes! ^u^  
CGS: developing an individual voice and sense of humor is integral to the formation of identity.  
CGS: it took me a little while to learn what “i” sounded like. but i think i have a pretty unique way of talking and typing as well now.  
CGS: and at least i’m not so vague and confusing anymore.  
CCI: I can attest to that. You were once very… distant and fatalistic.  
CGS: yes, i was…  
CGS: hopefully i’m easier to talk to these days.  
CDE: Zooey, you’ve always been soooo easy to talk to. It’s quite calming being around you.  
CGS: hee hee. c:

 

> Lucifer: Stop dawdling and get to that shrine.

 

You don’t like being rushed.

 

> Okay, take your time.

 

Thank you.

Maybe we should switch to someone else while we wait.

 

> Be Sandalphon.

 

You are now Sandalphon.

You have been talking quite antagonistically to a future version of yourself for a while now. Zooey locked the memo for you, bless her, so only versions of yourself can post in it, and no one else (save Zooey herself, probably, since she’s the admin) can read it. This way, you don’t have to worry about Olivia seeing this and making fun of you, or Lucifer’s opinion of you dropping any lower than you’re sure it already is.

You’re not even sure why you do this to yourself. Just… every version of you is so haughty or self-important, like they’re so much smarter than you just because they’re in the future, and you hate it. You hate their snark and their self-defeating attitude and the way they act like you’re all imminently doomed. Ugh. You hate yourself _so_ much.

 

==>

 

CIC: seriously i dont know and i dont want to know.  
CIC: youre acting like everythings just going to end up being futile and theres nothing any of us can do about it.  
CIC: and it makes me so mad. so what if it is? why cant we at least /try/ to make things better?  
CIC: god just let us go through this ourselves before you start coming in here and yelling about how you told me so you told me so  
FIC: i dont see why you care so much  
FIC: your optimism doesnt suit you  
FIC: you know exactly how fucking depressed you are and it really doesnt line up with your image  
CIC: so what if it doesnt. what if i want to get better.  
CIC: what if things ARE going to be okay and i want to believe that.  
CIC: is it some sort of crime to recover from trauma or change the horrible awful person you know yourself to be?  
CIC: im finally starting to believe good things about myself, i dont need this particular strain of self-hate in my life right now  
FIC: its always been in you no matter what you say  
FIC: if it wasnt us fighting you it would just be you in your own damn brain  
CIC: i dont CARE  
CIC: let me feel like im doing something good and useful for once  
FIC: but youre NOT  
FIC: everything you do is just going to end in failure and thats not even entirely your fault  
FIC: its just the way things are and its the way time players are, so youre going to have to get used to it  
FIC: the fact that youre constantly acknowledging the ways in which you fucked up and constantly seeing dead versions of yourself and all your friends  
FIC: always addressing your own failures and realizing over time that you are really just a piece of shit, no matter what you do.  
FIC: you are the useless scrap. its you.  
CIC: shut up. just shut up  
CIC: i dont want to hear it anymore  
FUTURE icarusCradle [FIC2] 1 HOUR FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FIC2: im sending lucifer the damn guide  
FIC2: hes made it to the shrine i dont think he knows theres a time capsule there  
FIC: good  
FIC2 ceased responding to memo.  
FIC: now that we have that squared away  
CIC: i hate the time aspect i hate the time aspect i hate the time aspect i hate the time aspect  
CIC: wheres zooey when i need her im so fucking mad  
FUTURE icarusCradle [FIC3] 13 DAYS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FIC3: its possible.  
CIC: what  
FIC: what  
FIC3: dont listen to that asshole  
FIC3: @ current me  
FIC3: youre okay  
FIC3: you guys will be okay  
FIC3: yeah your session is doomed and so is your whole universe  
FIC3: but it doesnt have to be  
FIC3: theres a way out you just dont know it yet, and itll be a way you wont see coming  
FIC3: just… trust in zooey, and trust in your own decisions, and clean up your own dead bodies as you go.  
FIC3: and dont self-prototype, fuck  
FIC3: it should be obvious, i cant believe i have to say that, but please just fucking dont self-prototype. its horrible and the worst idea.  
FIC3: i have to go  
FIC3: were passing through another dreambubble and theres friends i have to meet  
FUTURE icarusCradle [FIC4] 8 DAYS FROM NOW responded to memo.  
FIC4: wait tell me one thing  
FIC3: oh my god  
FIC4: is lucifer alive in your timeline  
FIC3:  
FIC3: yes.  
FIC3: in no small part thanks to your future efforts.  
FIC3: just do the right thing  
FIC3 ceased responding to memo.  
FIC4: you know what  
FIC4: he was right  
FIC4: there is something i can do  
FIC4 ceased responding to memo.  
FIC: damn it why are all my future selves past a certain point so sure of themselves  
FIC: let me hate on myself fuck you  
CIC: your loss.  
CIC: im leaving now  
CIC ceased responding to memo.  
FIC: fuck

 

> Be Lucifer again.

 

You are now Lucifer.

You’ve made it to the inner sanctum of the ASTRAL ruins where Sandalphon directed you to go. This deep in, it looks kind of like a shrine. The MURAL PAINTINGS are massive and worn by time, and you can’t tell what’s happening in half of them. But some of them make more sense. The one on the right wall is concerned especially with frogs. Why frogs?

 

> Lucifer: Update future-Sandalphon.

 

CCI: I’m here.  
CCI: Zooey, can you kindly unban him for me?  
CGS: if he promises to behave himself.  
CGS  unbanned FIC2 from responding to memo.  
FIC2: okay good you made it  
FIC2: listen carefully  
FIC2: do you see that weird circular platform behind the pedestal

 

==>

 

You walk around the enshrinement where you found the codes buried.

There’s a pile of rocks and rubble and twisted metal where he told you the platform would be. Upon first glance it seems innocuous enough, but when you take a closer look, all the debris is covering what looks like a platform, rising just a little bit above the dirt-covered floor. Enough to look important.

 

==>

 

CCI: Yes, I see it.  
FIC2: its covered with rubble and shit isnt it  
CCI: Yes. It doesn’t look impossible to clear out, though.  
FIC2: ok can you clear it off then  
FIC2: sorry to make you do all the work.  
CCI: It’s all right.  
CCI: I can do it, just wait a few moments.

 

==>

 

You push the stones away with your feet, clearing the larger ones and sliding them off the pedestal. They’re only about a little bigger than your head, so it’s not as if it’s impossible to get all the rubble out of the way. You kick the smaller stones away. They bounce down into the weird moat surrounding the shrine.

Under the white chalky rock, and with the dust swept off, you notice the platform’s polished metal surface.

 

==>

 

CCI: Is that…  
FIC2: yeah thats a sendificator platform  
FIC2: im sending you something right now

 

==>

 

Suddenly, with a little white flame, a large TOME of some sort appears on the platform.

 

> Lucifer: Examine.

 

You examine the TOME.

It is old, and the pages are aged and yellow, and it smells like chalk dust and ancient book. It also has a few… are those bloodstains? Possibly bloodstains on the opening pages. The binding reads: SBOUND FAQ AND WALKTHROUGH.

 

CCI: Sbound? Is that the name of this game?  
FIC2: thats what its called  
FIC2: i didnt name it, it seems like its been named that for a very long time  
FIC2: the first chapter should tell you i guess what i was too lazy to explain  
FIC2: which is about how to operate sessions with more than two people  
CCI: May I ask where these bloodstains came from?  
FIC2: oh thats mine  
FIC2: trust me you dont want to know  
FIC2: doomed selves and messy deaths  
CCI: ...Oh.  
CCI: Are you all right?  
FIC2: i guess  
FIC2: as much as i can reasonably be in this situation and also considering who and what i am  
FIC2: traumatized  
FIC2: depressed  
FIC2: full of pining and self destructive impulses  
FIC2: but what else is new  
CCI: I suppose that makes sense.  
CCI: I’m sorry.  
FIC2: youve already done enough apologizing  
FIC2: anyway you should probably get out of the ruins for now  
FIC2: bring that back to wherever youve been staying and let everyone read through it for now  
FIC2: sound like a plan  
CCI: It does.  
FIC2: okay good.  
FIC2: now since ive done my job its time for me to fly up into the sun like a fucking piece of gargbage  
FIC2: close the time loop and all that  
FIC2: bye  
CCI: ?  
CCI: I don’t understand?  
FIC2 ceased responding to memo.  
CCI: Oh no.  
?GS at ??:?? responded to memo.  
?GS: sigh…  
?GS: lucifer, if there’s one thing you have to know about sanchan during this game…  
?GS: it’s that he kills himself a lot. and i can’t really do anything to stop it.  
CCI: Oh gods. Why not?  
?GS: it’s the nature of being a time player and using time travel.  
?GS: he goes back or forward and changes things, but paradox space doesn’t allow people to leave their time loops open. so the version of him that travels through time is imminently doomed, and will die at some point.  
?GS: i really don’t like seeing them die, but unfortunately, that seems to be unavoidable.  
?GS: he would much rather have control over when and how he does die. i would prefer he keep his alternate selves alive for a bit, but he’s said before that he doesn’t want them getting in the way.  
CIC: understandable  
CIC: that really sounds like something i would do too  
?GS: fly up into the sun like a piece of garbage?  
CIC: no, fly up into the sun like a FUCKING piece of garGbage, get it right future zooey.  
CGS: you are silly, sanchan. i do not like to swear! even in the future, i hope.  
CGS: and you’re not even a piece of garbage, or gargbage.  
CIC: that version of me sure did sound like one.  
CIC: anyway im really curious as to what future me was giving lucifer  
CIC: lucifer let us know when you get back so we can look through the book together.  
CCI: I will.  
CCI: I am also quite curious as to the author of this book.  
CCI: Examining it now, it says it was written by dionysianTactician, Rogue of Mind…  
CCI: Are there really other players from our universe? Who else is playing this game? Or are they from a different universe entirely? If so, how did future Sandalphon get his hands on it?  
CCI: I would have loved to ask him this.  
?GS: unfortunately it is too late to do so.  
?GS: i will, however, tell you this.  
?GS: you meet him, later. DT, i mean.  
?GS: but that is all i will say on the matter.  
?GS ceased responding to memo.  
CGS: …  
CIC: you really are that vague and ominous  
CGS: ...is what i was going to say, yes.  
CGS: <>  
CIC: yeah yeah <> you too

 


	2. ACT 1 ACT 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before the GAME can be played, it has to be transcribed, compiled, and installed. This, obviously, makes for some minor misadventures.

You are now LUCIFER.

You have just returned from the ASTRAL RUINS to retrieve a GAME MANUAL, sent to you by a future version of Sandalphon. The journey was exhausting as always, but you made it back safely, and the next objective is to pore through this large book and help everyone else in your session understand a little bit better what they’re getting themselves into.

 

> Lucifer: Open SBOUND MANUAL.

 

The MANUAL seems to have been written by someone who styles themselves as dionysianTactician, the Rogue of Mind. You had previously expressed curiosity about who this player may have been, and a strange version of Zooey from an unknown timeline told you that you would meet him, later, which only further served to pique your interest. You suppose you can glean something from the style and content of the manual. But for now, you should probably focus on what it’s telling you.

 

> Lucifer: Read introduction.

 

So I’m not sure how you got your hands on this, but if you’re reading this, congrats! You’ve somehow managed to retrieve this guide from a doomed session. Maybe there’s hope for us, then, if you’re getting this— who knows?

That’s the thing, though. Our session failed, catastrophically. There’s nothing left to do in this universe but wait around to inevitably be consumed by the void, or by some paradox space demon, whichever comes first. To while away the time, I thought it might be a good idea for me to compile everything I’ve learned from this game into one big grimoire. Just in case someone else finds this, to help them succeed where we failed. And I suppose my wish came true!

So first things first: this game WILL destroy your universe. The one you know, at least. You CANNOT play this game if you are unwilling to face that outcome. Chances are, if you’re playing it already, you don’t have much to lose. In that case, more power to you. But here’s the thing: whether or not YOU play this game doesn’t really matter. Because someone else is already playing it, and you can either choose to die with the rest of your world or catapult yourself into a different session, one where you have the chance and the power to not only survive, but create a better world for you and the other players to thrive in.

 

==>

 

Someone else is already playing?

That… doesn’t sound nice. 

You wonder if you shouldn’t keep this part of the guide a secret from the rest of your team.

 

==>

 

But enough of that. Before any of the more existential problems, you first need to tackle the issue of how you’re going to get into the game.

SBOUND is a multiplayer game. It is built for two or more players. If you attempt to start a session on your own, SBOUND will hate you for it. This, obviously, is not what my team did, but anyone who’s ever played has heard the legends. This is what’s called a DEAD SESSION. The game will make itself especially hard just to spite you…

 

> Lucifer: You don’t need to read this part.

 

You skip the part about DEAD SESSIONS and move on to the bit about MORE THAN TWO PLAYER SESSIONS.

 

In order to make a session with more than two players, you and your teammates will have to coordinate a sort of chain reaction. SBOUND’s interface requires a SERVER and a CLIENT player. The SERVER will stay in the original plane, working with the CLIENT player to get them into the MEDIUM, who will then become the server player for another client player still in the original plane. So basically, my session went like this: 

DT > LU > HH > TD 

who then got me (DT) into the Medium from there.

 

You really do have to hurry with this. Preferably, you should be physically split up, because when one of you starts The Reckoning, you’re not going to have much time if you’re all in the same place. The meteors wait for no one! 

 

> Meteors?

 

Well.

You guess you were right on your hunch about splitting up. 

So if you’re not mistaken, then… 

 

==>

 

That’s right— the moment the first server player opens the lid of the CRUXTRUDER, a massive extinction event will begin. You will have ten minutes at your own location to enter the Medium before a meteor impact occurs. Once you’re in the Medium, you’re safe from the meteors, but whether or not you’re safe doesn’t matter, because once The Reckoning begins, there will be meteors locked on to _everyone’s_ locations.

Don’t worry, though! Or at least, try to worry as little as possible given the life-or-death situation. Ten minutes seems short, but it is actually more than enough time to deploy the PHERNALIA and enter the Medium, especially if you have good teamwork going on. It should take anywhere from 20 to 49 minutes for an entire four person session to safely enter the Medium. You want to keep that number as far away from 50 as possible, because that’s just pushing it. 

But really, believe me when I say _it’s not actually all that bad._ My team made it in at a good 31 minutes. Realistically, something has to go super wrong for you to take more than 7 minutes at worst, or you just have to be really foolish. And if you’re reading this guide, chances are you’re smart enough that you’re procuring the tools you need to succeed in this game, and so smart enough to make it way under 10 minutes per person.

 

> Lucifer: Update memo.

 

CURRENT canaanIlluminated [CCI] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCI: Is everyone still present?  
CDE: Present~  
CGS: here! c:  
CIC: yeah  
CCI: All right. Thanks to future-Sandalphon’s efforts, I have procured a very large book that seems to be a walkthrough of this game.  
CCI: The game itself is called SBOUND. None of us named it this. I was only now informed of this. The writer is a certain DT, who seems to be trapped in a null session, and opened the walkthrough with an acknowledgment that the guide was written out of both boredom and an attempt to make sure whomever it reaches does not make the same mistakes. He has quite an ironically cheerful voice for someone who  
CDE: Lucifer, this isn’t a book review.  
CCI: Ah. I apologize.  
CGS: hee hee. ‘u’  
CCI: I will try to keep it brief from now on.  
CCI: In order for us to enter the same session and play as a four-person group, we must utilize a daisy-chain sort of setup.   
CCI: In one separate instance of SBOUND, there is a server and a client player. The server and client player link up, and then the server player assists the client in getting into the Medium, whatever that is. If you wanted to keep it as a two-person session, the client player would then become the server for their server player, and work from the Medium to bring their client in.   
CCI: But in order to add other people to the session, that client player in the Medium must then become the server player for a completely different person.   
CCI: This chain would eventually end with the last client player getting the very first server player in. Unfortunately, there are time constraints on this process, because apparently once the first of us begins The Reckoning, it is only a matter of time until the effects are felt globally.  
CIC: lucifer what does it mean by “the effects” because that sounds bad.  
CCI: Apparently each server/client pair will have up to 10 minutes before… well.  
CCI: By opening the Cruxtruder, this will kick off a rain of meteors, aimed directly at the location of the player. Thankfully, the 10 minute time limit seems to be quite generous. DT and his team were able to cut their entry time in almost half, and their entire process took 31 minutes.  
CCI: He continues to stress throughout this chapter that it’s not actually all that bad, and that it takes an immense amount of foolishness or a freak accident to fail this step.  
CCI: With that being said, I would like to volunteer to be the first server player, and the last to enter.  
CIC: hold on lucifer is this just you being self-sacrificing again because i thought we went over this  
CCI: I don’t think so?  
CCI: But I am of the opinion that aside from Zooey, who is too important to lose in the event that we run out of time, I am the most calm under pressure, and also do not have a particularly important role or the power to support it.  
CIC: yeah see this is just you being self-sacrificing again  
CIC: and dont say stuff like that about yourself  
CIC: you are important just by existing and you know it.  
CCI: Sandalphon…  
CDE: Ugh, get a room.  
CGS: olivia! let them be.  
CIC: liv youre horrible and i hate you.  
CDE: Yeah, yeah. You love me.  
CGS: but lucifer, if you really are set on going last, i’m not sure what reason we would have to stop you. i trust us.  
CGS: lucifer, who would you like as your client?  
CCI: Hmm…  
CCI: This time, I will go with Olivia.   
CCI: We both tend to be very focused on the task at hand, and I would like to not be distracted.  
CGS: understood.  
CGS: olivia, who will you choose as your client?  
CDE: You, of course!  
CGS: oh!  
CGS: i would be happy to! c:  
CDE: And that also makes Sandalphon your client by default.  
CDE: I planned this ahead, of course, because I’m so thoughtful like that~  
CGS: you’re right! that makes me very happy. sanchan, i’ll be your server, and then you will   
CGS: ah.  
CGS: sanchan?  
CIC: yeah  
CIC: you dont have to ask though i know what youre going to say and i know youre worried  
CIC: but im not the weak and anxious pile of spare parts i used to be  
CIC: ill get lucifer in, no matter what  
CCI: Sandalphon…  
CCI: I trust you with all of me.  
CIC: this also means, though, that all of you have to be as quick as possible too. if its as much like a relay race as it sounds, we want to have a strong start.   
CIC: so dont fuck up or youll be putting unnecessary pressure on the rest of us, i guess  
CGS: it seems scary, but the more you think about it the less scary it actually gets.  
CGS: if it’s just about teamwork and cooperation, i think we have that down pat especially with the pairs we’ve set up.  
CGS: lucifer, will you do us all a favor and transcribe the code and upload it in a file here so that each of us can spread out and upload it to our respective monoliths?  
CCI: I would be glad to.  
CCI: It may take a while, however. I will try to make it as quick as possible.  
CCI: In the meantime, I believe we should pick out our locations. There are monoliths on every island for our uses, and they are usually located near or within ruins.  
CCI: Since I am closest to Canaan right now, I will just use the one in the Astral ruins.  
CGS: hmm… i might go to zinkenstill? since i’m very familiar with the place. and there is definitely a strange and mysterious power at work there.  
CDE: I’ll probably go to Tramont. I like it there the best. All the mist and fog and dead things… perfect.  
CIC: im not particularly attached to any place in particular, but id like to be somewhere quiet  
CIC: ah actually now that i think about it.  
CIC: no idea whats been going on in dydroit or if theres luminary knight activity happening there but i kind of like the place so i think ill be there  
CGS: understood. let’s all get out to our places and unwind for a bit before lucifer uploads sbound.  
CGS: we need to make sure we’re ready for whatever might come. but i believe we can do it!  
CGS: we’re going to do great things! i’m sure of it. c:

 

> Lucifer: Start working on this code thing.

 

Transcribing this code is probably going to be quite an ordeal. The tomes are faded and tattered, but at least everything is still legible. You’re a bit worried that you’re going to make a spelling mistake somewhere and corrupt the whole thing. But if there’s one thing you’re good at, it’s very painstaking and precise work. You have a penchant for it. There is also something calming about work like this; having to concentrate so sharply helps clear the rest of your mind, and it’s almost therapeutic. This is also why you have taken up CROSS STITCHING lately.

 

This may take a while. Perhaps we should be someone else.

 

> Be Olivia.

 

You are now Olivia.

Now that you’re done palling around with your nerdy friends, and have a game plan about what to do next, you’re on your way to the SHRINE in TRAMONT ISLAND’s graveyard. You’re quite familiar with the place, and you remember seeing a big monolith around there before as well, so you have zero doubt about where you’re supposed to be going. 

What you do have more than zero percent doubt about is how well this is going to go. From what Lucifer said, this GAME does seem to be quite dangerous, and possibly even world-ending if there are meteors or something. But maybe it’s just meteors destroying the places you are in particular, and not… the entire Sky Realm. You kind of feel bad for the other people on TRAMONT, even though they’re all dead already. 

Where do zombies go when the world ends?

That sure is an EXISTENTIAL QUESTION for another day. Today there will be no more existential questions. Today you’re going to play a GAME! Or, at least, you hope it’ll be today, because you actually have no idea how long it’s going to take Lucifer to transcribe all that code, and you’re not the most patient person. 

You propel yourself into the air and take off from the Dydroit Belt. You had come over here to monitor the movements of the Seven Luminary Knights, and had been perched on a nearby cliff watching the airships come and go through the rocky straits. None of them contained the specific people you were looking for, so you don’t really need to be here anymore. Anyway, you have a GAME to play, and you have a feeling that after you start it, nothing else will really matter anymore.

 

> Olivia: Travel.

 

Flying around for long periods of time can get annoying, no matter how pretty the rest of the Sky Realm is, especially when you’re far enough out and high enough into the clouds that you can’t really see any of the scenery. You pass a few skimmers on the way there, still keeping an eye out for any particularly colorful characters in full-body armor, but you find none, and dodge a few flying islands on the way out. Ugh, Dydroit is so boring. You have no idea why Sandalphon would ever want to hang out there, but then again, you don’t claim to understand the inner workings of a maladjusted emo primarch. At least he wears his emotions on his sleeve, unlike some other primarchs you’ve met, who are ridiculously indecipherable; Sandalphon is notoriously easy to read, and it makes him easy to tease.

 

> Olivia: Land already.

 

Yeah, yeah. 

Eventually the clouds fade as you lose altitude, and are replaced by the very familiar and welcoming fog that envelops Tramont Island. Other people may find it a little off-putting, or more than a little, but you’ve always felt safe in it. Dark things and dead things are your thing. And most of the zombies here are friendly, especially as you get closer to town. They have no reason to fear you as a primal beast, since you can’t exactly kill them, and they have a remarkably positive outlook on life. Or afterlife, rather. Living forever can be tough, and you admire them for being so resilient. 

You spread your wings wide and come to a soft landing in the graveyard near Crepesculo. A nearby villager notices you and waves.

 

> Olivia: Have a nice conversation with the ZOMBIE VILLAGER. 

 

ZOMBIE VILLAGER: Hello there, miss Olivia!  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: I haven’t seen you around this area in a little while, since you usually stay near the edges. What brings you to town?  
OLIVIA: Oh, hello. I’m just spending some time out for a bit.   
OLIVIA: It gets tiring in that old palace. Also, I’m waiting for some friends to get back to me. We’re going to play some sort of game.  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: Well! I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned having friends.  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: No offense meant, of course.  
OLIVIA: Ahaha! You sure are blunt. I like that. None taken.  
OLIVIA: I do have friends. They’re other primal beasts like me. They just don’t come around here that often, and we mainly communicate long distance.  
OLIVIA: What are you so far outside the town gates for? It’s a little dangerous, you know.  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: I’ve come to visit my grandmother. This is where she rests, and I haven’t been outside of town that often lately, so I thought I’d drop by to say hello.  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: I brought a sword. But I’m counting on you to save me if anything particularly scary pops up, hah hah!  
OLIVIA: Noted, then. I’m just waiting on one of my friends to get everything ready, so I’ll be here for a while. Say hello to your grandmother for me?  
ZOMBIE VILLAGER: Will do! Nice to see you again, miss.

 

> Olivia: Find the MONOLITH.

 

Ahhh. It’s quite nice being here. You wave goodbye to the VILLAGER and wander around for a bit. The MONOLITH is large and hard to miss— it’s a darker black color than the rest of the gravestones, and the moment you round the corner of the nearby MAUSOLEUM, you immediately spot it. So that’s all good, there. 

You perch on a nearby broken-down stone wall. The place smells of petrichor and rock and rusting wrought-iron fences, and it’s familiar and comforting in a way not a lot else is. You lean back and watch the fog move above you.

 

> Olivia: Maybe you should update the MEMO?

 

Good idea. They should know you’ve made it in advance.

 

CURRENT dusklightExile [CDE] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CDE: Just letting everyone know I’ve arrived on Tramont.  
CDE: I had a nice little chat with a zombie.  
CDE: We’re waiting on you now, Lucifer~  
CURRENT canaanIlluminated [CCI] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCI: I am aware.  
CCI: Please do not distract me.  
CDE: You can just turn notifications off, you know.  
CCI: You can?  
CCI: How?  
CDE: Oh my god.  
CURRENT icarusCradle [CIC] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CIC: ill dm you hold on  
CDE: THANK you.  
CDE: You know, for being the one who stole Astral technology and made these devices for us, you sure are bad at using them.

 

> Olivia: Be someone else.

 

Like who?

 

> How about Zooey?

 

Okay, that works.

 

> Hours later…

 

You are now Zooey.

Getting to Zinkenstill was easy and quick enough, since all you really have to do is be the cosmos for a little while and then un-be it in a different place. But once you get there, the forest is thick and dark enough that you’re not sure where to go from here. You have memories of what the Azure Sky Sanctum looks like from above; that’s the place you’re most familiar with, especially as Grand Order. But you underestimated the size of the rest of the island. For such a small place, the forest sure is hard to navigate. 

 

> Zooey: Wander.

 

You explore for a little while. Through the gaps in the trees, you can see an all-engulfing light seeping in, the kind of light that you can only see in the sky from the edge of an island. LYRN keeps calling, pointing out towards the light. From what you remember, the Azure Sky Sanctum was a large field, nestled between mountains, and beyond it was nothing but blue. You remember the gentle glow of a small pebble-sized stone. You remember seeing it from afar. Knowing the favor someone had brought.

DYRN jumps off your head and flaps towards a break in the trees, squeaking the whole time. You follow it. Maybe your dragons know better than you.

 

> Zooey: Emerge.

 

You walk through what feels like a curtain of trees and into a clearing. The grass flows like water in the wind; a cool breeze blows. In the middle of the field, which seems to expand into eternity on all sides but one, is a tiny glade, a cluster of forest that surrounds what must be a shrine and its implements. DYRN calls back at you from ahead, chirruping in excitement. 

You pick up your pace a little, half-running through the field, and enter the glade.

 

==>

 

The shrine is so small, and yet you can feel such an energy from it. To anyone else, you know it would be overwhelming; it would overpower most mortals who ventured here. But to you, it’s familiar. It’s home. It’s… yours, somehow. The way your bed smells like you; the way you forget that smell until you come back to it, and you don’t notice it when you’ve spent enough time there. 

Just beyond the old wooden shrine, you can see the MONOLITH. It isn’t as tall as you thought it might be; it doesn’t quite tower above the rest of it. It’s not majestic or shiny like the ones elsewhere. It’s just as worn, understated and yet powerful as the rest of this island. A quiet strength, a fragment of something much larger. 

Without any pretense of restraint, LYRN immediately sits on top of the shrine.

 

ZOOEY: hey!  
ZOOEY: get off there.

 

> Zooey: Update memo.

 

CURRENT grandeStarseed [CGS] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CGS: hello! i’ve made it to the azure sky sanctum in zinkenstill. just checking in to see where everyone’s at right now.  
CDE: I’ve been at Tramont for a little while already if you backread.  
CIC: lucifer turned off his notifications. he doesnt want to get distracted  
CIC: still on my way to dydroit  
CIC: i dont want to rush him  
CDE: Aww, how considerate. Or are you sure you’re not just tired from flying and resting your little wings for a bit?  
CIC: shut up olivia  
CIC: im actually still flying?  
CGS: sanchan don’t text and fly!  
CGS: you are being very irresponsible!  
CIC: if i get hit by an airship its livs fault  
CDE: Oh, please. We all know you just want to get hit by an airship, you don’t need to use me as an excuse.  
CGS:   
CGS: olivia.  
CGS: say one more word, and i will make sure you never have the chance to say another.  
CIC: oh my god  
CDE: Oh my god?  
CIC: zooey holy shit its okay im not that upset. liv you know im better than that now.   
CIC: i would really rather not get hit by an airship anytime soon  
CDE: ...And I would really rather not be extinguished from existence by the personification of the cosmos itself. Sorry, Zooey.  
CGS: don’t apologize to me. apologize to sanchan.  
CDE: ...Okay, fine.  
CDE: I’m sorry, Sandalphon. I do know you’ve gotten better. I won’t do that again.  
CIC: its ok, liv. i forgive you.  
CIC: you actually sound sincere for once. did zooey scare you that much? or maybe youre getting more emotionally mature too.  
CDE: A combination of both, I hope.  
CGS: hee hee.  
CDE: Don’t give me that, Zooey, you just threatened to wipe me off the face of the Sky Realm.  
CGS: but it worked, didn’t it? c:  
CURRENT canaanIlluminated [CCI] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCI: What did I just…  
CCI: What in the skies did I just walk in on?  
CGS: nothing at all, lucifer!  
CIC: zooey almost just went sicko mode on liv  
CDE: I had a near-death experience.  
CGS: nothing happened.  
CCI: Ah...  
CCI: …  
CCI: All right.   
CCI: That aside, I’ve finished transcribing the code. Now it needs to compile.  
CDE: Exciting!  
CDE: And how long will that take?  
CCI: I am not sure.  
CCI: Hopefully not more than six hours.  
CCI: Perhaps everyone should explore their surroundings and become familiar with them, if they haven’t already. We will be working with these surroundings for quite a while, after all.  
CIC: not sure what that means but ok. i have to get there first though.  
CIC: i had the longest journey out of anyone here since i was just in port breeze and have to go all the way to dydroit   
CIC: wish i was good enough at supreme primarch powers to teleport places  
CCI: You will learn in time. I believe in you.  
CCI: I am going to relax for a while until the code compiles, since I already know my way around this place.  
CCI: Relatedly, I’ve started a new needlepoint project. Does anyone have any suggestions or requests for a pattern?  
CIC: coffee cup  
CCI: Wonderful idea.  
CDE: Lucifer, you’ve done FIVE of those already.  
CCI: They are all different kinds of coffee.  
CDE: God, HOW many different kinds of coffee are there??????  
CCI: Well,  
CDE: DON’T answer that.

 

> Some more hours later…

 

Let’s see what Lucifer is up to.

 

> Be Lucifer.

 

You are now Lucifer.

You have been waiting for your code to compile for several hours. At first you decided you would while away the time by working on your next cross-stitch project, but the SBOUND FAQ sitting there on your desk eventually distracted you. The pull of KNOWLEDGE is just too great, and you will need to learn all you can.

So far, you have learned from DT that the game will, in fact, end the world you live in right now, and that it also will give you the chance to create a new one. So those hypotheses have been confirmed. You have also learned that there are things called CLASSES and ASPECTS, and that each player gets their own MYTHOLOGICAL ROLE incorporating those two things. This MYTHOLOGICAL ROLE is determined by the kind of person you are, the role you will play in the game, and what you have power over. You spent a good 30 minutes trying to predict what everyone’s CLASSPECTS would be. Zooey would definitely be a SPACE player, you think. You’re not quite sure about Sandalphon, but from what you’ve heard, the kind of resilience he possesses is a hallmark of TIME players. 

 

> Lucifer: Read more of the SBOUND FAQ.

 

You open the book back to where you had dog-eared the page. Here, DT was talking about CLASSES, and how they don’t make as much sense as ASPECTS. Or rather, not as much is known about them in comparison.

 

CLASSES seem to be a lot more arbitrary than ASPECTS are. Your class is a reflection of two things: how you utilize your aspect, and whether you use your aspect to the benefit of yourself or your team. This is also known as PASSIVE vs. ACTIVE classes. Some classes are very obviously one of the two, while others kind of fall in between, or don’t seem to fit the scale entirely. We just don’t know!

In our session we had a ROGUE (me!), a KNIGHT, a MAGE and a SEER. Sadly, we didn’t really get to see what that meant for most of us, since I was the only one who went GOD TIER. My class was self-explanatory: basically, I steal my aspect to redistribute it to others. That makes me a PASSIVE class— someone who uses my aspect for the good (or possibly bad?) of the team. Reasonably, the THIEF would be the ACTIVE counterpart to this class: someone who steals their aspect from others to help themselves. Now that sounds kind of bad, but being an active class doesn’t automatically mean you’re evil or selfish. In fact, it’s best to have a balance of passive and active classes in your session, because if everyone is always trying to help everyone else, no one will be taking care of themselves!

 

==>

 

You feel called out.

 

> Lucifer: Keep reading.

 

Basically, your mythological role sort of predicts the kind of player you will be, and what you will eventually have power over. Some ASPECTS are way more abstract than others: there’s stuff like SPACE and TIME that are self-explanatory to manipulate, but then there’s other stuff like BLOOD and RAGE??? How do you control stuff like blood? Well, we had a Blood player, so here’s how: the BLOOD aspect basically symbolizes the bonds between team members. Blood is thicker than water, and all that. So a Blood player has influence over, and mainly utilizes in some way, the bonds and friendships between people. A Blood player can tend to be the glue that holds a party together and keeps everyone from falling apart and fighting each other. Or, depending on their CLASS, they could be the one to destroy these relationships. It really depends. Our Blood player was the real MVP when it came to emotional maturity and making sure all of us got along. 

The weird thing is, sometimes classes and aspects are assigned to people not to fit their roles or personalities, but to challenge them. A BREATH player (which is another sort of symbolic aspect, it means something like independence and self-reliance) could actually be really dependent and shy, and SBOUND will give them that aspect because it sees the potential in that player to BECOME someone much more self-assured. Or a HOPE player could be someone really downtrodden and pessimistic, and will have to learn how to accept their aspect’s existence before even being able to utilize it. It’s a real lottery when it comes to who gets the fitting roles and who gets the challenging ones, but usually the less stable players get challenge. SBOUND seems to know its players and their strengths and weaknesses even before the game begins. I have a feeling it’s basically engineered for the players’ self-improvement. Which is kind of an all-or-nothing gamble, then, because if you can’t self-improve in time, or something goes wrong from the start, you’re just kind of screwed forever and don’t have the chance to do better. Like us, I guess. 

But enough of that! If you’re reading this, you have a chance to do what we couldn’t. So let’s move on to some theories about all the CLASSES. Warning that I probably don’t know everything because we only had four players and four classpects to learn about…

 

Your COMMUNICATION DEVICE begins to chime. Your heart leaps a little.

 

> Lucifer: Check on progress.

 

The code seems to be done compiling!!!!!!

Oh, this is so exciting. Maybe what you’ve been reading is kind of depressing, but just knowing that you’re about to take the next step to playing this GAME is enough to make you feel good about it again. You can’t help but bounce a little in your chair in anticipation. Which Zooey would probably tell you is more proof you’re learning how to express emotion better. She would be proud of you.

Time to upload the file. You walk over to the MONOLITH in the middle of the laboratory and press the TABLET up against the obsidian surface. This way, it will be faster, since direct contact speeds up the process significantly.

 

> Lucifer: Upload SBOUND executable to memo.

 

CURRENT canaanIlluminated [CCI] RIGHT NOW responded to memo.  
CCI: It’s done.  
CCI: It is only the installer, but it may still be a very large file, so please be careful, and download it near your respective monolith.  
CGS: !!!!  
CGS: i’m so excited!!!!!!  
CIC: that went faster than i thought it would, actually  
CIC: good work, lucifer.  
CCI: I am happy to be of help.  
CCI: Before we begin, I want to offer one more chance to back out. There will be no shame in doing so.  
CCI: The game is dangerous. There is no denying that. And one person’s hesitation may spell the end for our entire party.  
CCI: Knowing this, would you all proceed?  
CIC: any day of my life  
CGS: i am prepared.  
CDE: Ready as I’ll ever be.  
CCI: All right.  
CCI: The file will take a while to download, and the game even longer to install. You can speed up the process significantly by setting down the device so that it is touching the monolith on one side.  
CCI uploaded file SBOUND_installer.exe  
CCI: I wish all of us the best of luck.

 

> Sandalphon: Download INSTALLER.

 

The file itself is small enough to download in ten seconds, but installing it seems to be another matter entirely. You prop the TABLET up against the monolith, sit across from it on one of the long flat stones, and stare at the screen while it does its thing.

The sky-blue SPIROGRAPH dances on the white surface, pulling in on itself and then flowering out, a neverending weaving of lines and circles and fractals. 

 

> Zooey: Watch INSTALLER.

 

The loading bar fills slowly. Nonsensical phrases cycle through below it: 

 

Informing Caster  
Inventing Rubber Hoists  
Performing Wrenches  
Judging Chalk Adapters  
Upgrading Ignition Paths  
Regrowing Flashing  
Recommending Ratchets  
Approving Barriers

 

You don’t know what any of them mean. Are these actual things that are happening? How does one even perform a wrench?

 

> Olivia: Wait.

 

The spirograph continues its folding and unfurling, tightening and blooming, opening a million mouths, a million eyes. Its lines like a dreamcatcher, or a cat’s cradle.

 

> Sandalphon: Finish installing. 

 It’s time.

You remove the tablet from where it rests against the monolith— and then, everything

       

      suddenly

 

_changes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so basically ive been working on this fic completely out of chronological order, and i have about 38000 words of it, but NONE of it can be published because its not fucking COMPLETE. so i finally got around to like......... filling in the blanks..... and trying to publish in order....  
> idk why im so passionate abt this fic but i really do love it so yknow. its fine


End file.
